Packagings of the type mentioned at the outset are used frequently in dental technology to provide substances, for example for the treatment of patients.
DE 81 05 156 U1 describes a covering foil web from which covers to be applied to packaging cavities formed from a plastics material film web are to be punched out. The covering foil web is provided on its upper side and/or underside with self-adhesive labels associated with the individual covers.
DE 23 27 206 A discloses a single-dose packaging, preferably for administering medicaments, consisting of a lower foil containing a chamber and a closure foil covering the chamber and also of a permanently adhesive marking foil which is releasably fastened to the packaging. The marking foil is embodied as a closure foil, provided with a gripping surface and configured so as to be detachable from the packaging while at the same time opening the chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,701 A describes a food package having a compartmentalised rigid base tray which holds the food products and a flexible foil hermetically sealing the compartments. In combination therewith, labelling means are provided which eliminate the need for an outer enclosure container, while still providing sufficient space to convey label information.
WO 00/09416 discloses a packaging for two-component products and a method for the manufacture thereof. Disclosed therein is a packaging for an epoxy resin and a hardener, containing a thermoformed element having two chambers for in each case epoxy resin and hardener. A foil is laminated onto the underside of the thermoformed element in order to close each chamber. A lamination between the chambers at the interface of the thermoformed element and laminated-on foil tears open when pressure is applied from the outside onto one of the chambers. The tearing-open connects the two chambers and allows epoxy resin and hardener to be blended in a closed envelope. The mixed adhesive can be removed through a removal opening formed by a channel which is to be broken open and is connected to one of the chambers.
DE 31 22 237 A1 discloses a packaging for liquid fillers, consisting of a deep-drawn part and a covering foil upwardly tightly closing off the deep-drawn part. Located in the gap formed between the deep-drawn part and covering foil are the liquid fillers and also an insertion part (swab, sponge, dripper, stopper, etc.) for dispensing liquid. The packaging has a predetermined breaking point which is positioned in such a way that when one part of the packaging breaks off from the remaining part, the insertion part is exposed, so that liquid is dispensed through a through-channel from the liquid space through the insertion part.
Drawbacks of the solutions shown in WO 00/09416 and DE 31 22 237 A1 include the fact that all of the packaging must be handled for removing and applying the contents. This is disadvantageous in particular in dental applications which are difficult to reach. Furthermore, the speed at which the contents are removed from the proposed packagings is difficult to control and the amount that is removed is difficult to meter.
DE 298 14 215 U1, WO 96/03326, DE 100 47 679 A1 and EP 0 895 943 B1 disclose packagings with applicators. DE 298 14 215 U1 shows a multiple-chamber packaging made up of a thermoplastic deep-drawn part with at least two bowls and a sealed-on covering foil. The packaging is equipped with a bowl containing a liquid medium. An absorbent insert is located in a second bowl. The bowls are separated from one another by a region of the web that is sealed to the covering foil in a peelable manner. By applying pressure to the first bowl, the peeling seal between the covering foil and web opens between the bowls and the impregnating medium from the first bowl runs into the second bowl and wets the insert. By pulling up a free peeling tab, the covering foil, which is sealed to the deep-drawn part on the edge side in a peelable manner, can be pulled up and the impregnated insert removed. As the application part to be impregnated, a rod having an absorbent head can also be inserted into the bowl.
WO 96/03326 discloses a tray with wells for receiving a medicament and an applicator. The applicator well has an open end beyond which a substantial portion of the applicator protrudes. A cover made of a thin, flexible sheet material seals the entire surface of the tray. The protruding portion of the applicator can be used to break open the cover. Once the cover has been removed, the medicament can be applied in a simple and practical manner, wherein the entire packaging and the applicator can easily be disposed of after use.
DE 100 47 679 A1 discloses a device for the storing and mixing in particular of paste-like masses. The device comprises at least one chamber which can receive a substance, wherein the at least one chamber is formed by the peelable sealing of a base foil and a covering foil. On activation of the device by pulling-apart or detaching of the covering foil from the base foil, there is in this way carried out on the base foil, as a function of the selected arrangement of the substance to be mixed, a division, on the exposed, substantially planar mixing region, into two separately mixable portions.
The solutions disclosed in DE 298 14 215 U1, WO 96/03326 and DE 100 47 679 A1 have the drawback that the foil to be detached enters into contact in the storage state with a for example free-flowing or paste-like substance and there can adhere to the detached foil substance residues which can lead, during handling of the foil or the packaging, to bonding to or soiling of the environment of the packaging, equipment or users. Breaking-open or tearing of the foil intensifies this drawback and can furthermore lead to the foil having to be removed in an awkward manner in a plurality of, often small, individual parts.
EP 0 895 943 B1 discloses a device for storing and dispensing a free-flowing substance with a container made of two foils. The separation between the chambers has a passage region which can be opened selectively by externally applied pressure and a chamber is embodied as a pocket which is outwardly open already in the storage condition. The substance is removed preferably by an application instrument which is mounted in the pocket or is to be introduced into the pocket by the user and can be wetted or brought into contact with the substance without the container as a whole being opened.
Drawbacks of this solution include the fact that the application instrument must be reintroduced into the narrow pocket when the application instrument is to be brought back into contact with the substance. This is awkward for a user and can lead to substance adhering in the channel and to the mouth thereof, and thus no longer being available for application and being able to soil both the packaging and the environment thereof.
The Applicant's own EP 1 153 579 B1 discloses a device for storing and applying one-component or multiple-component free-flowing dental materials. A well for receiving a substance is closed by a foil. The foil can be pierced using a suitable application apparatus in order subsequently to remove the substance from the well.
A packaging for storing at least two substances in separate containers is additionally known from the Applicant's own DE 102 43 401 A1, wherein the chambers are formed from portions, which are sealed to one another in a liquid-tight manner, of a bottom foil and a covering foil and in a region connecting the chambers, the bottom foil and the covering foil are sealed to each other in such a way that by exerting a pressure from the outside onto the first chamber, the sealing connection between the foils can selectively become detached in said region, a through-channel can form between the first and the second chamber, and the first substance can be transferred from the first to the second chamber. The covering foil in a region which is associated with the second chamber and has a material weakening is pierced and the substances, which are blended before or after the piercing, are removed. An application apparatus having an application tip can be used for piercing the covering foil and advantageously also for blending and removing the substances.
While the solutions disclosed in EP 1 153 579 B1 and DE 102 43 401 A1 are suitable and advantageous for application in the dental field, it can however in individual cases be advantageous to allow the removal of substances without piercing a foil, for example if use is made of an application apparatus which is not suitable for piercing a foil.